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Disney sets May 2019 release for ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’

The Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday announced that the Colin Trevorrow-directed “Star Wars: Episode IX” would fly into theaters on May 24, 2019, making it the first in the main trilogy to debut in the summer box office season, which kicks off at the beginning of May.

Both “The Force Awakens” and the upcoming “The Last Jedi” were December releases, as was the “Star Wars” spinoff “Rogue One.”

The “Star Wars” anthology film focused on young Han Solo will test the Memorial Day weekend first with its previously announced May 25, 2018, release.

Disney also set a barrage of release dates for the next few years, including for the fifth “Indiana Jones” film, the live-action “The Lion King” and “Frozen 2.”

The still-untitled “Indiana Jones” movie was pushed back a year and was now set to arrive in theaters on July 10, 2020, with Steven Spielberg returning as director along with star Harrison Ford.

Director Jon Favreau’s live-action “Lion King,” featuring Donald Glover as Simba, was expected to debut on July 19, 2019, while the animated sequel to the smash-hit “Frozen” will come later that year on Nov. 27, 2019.

Disney also pushed its 3-D animated film “Gigantic” back two years to November 2020.

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